U.S. patent number 4,954,878 [Application Number 07/373,960] was granted by the patent office on 1990-09-04 for method of packaging and powering integrated circuit chips and the chip assembly formed thereby.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Digital Equipment Corp.. Invention is credited to Leslie R. Fox, William L. Schmidt, Paul C. Wade.
United States Patent |
4,954,878 |
Fox , et al. |
September 4, 1990 |
Method of packaging and powering integrated circuit chips and the
chip assembly formed thereby
Abstract
An IC chip assembly includes a chip having an array of exposed
contacts at a first face thereof, a substrate having an array of
exposed contacts at a face thereof and a compliant interposer with
exposed contacts at opposite faces thereof positioned between the
chip and substrate so that contacts on the opposite faces of the
interposer engage the contacts on said chip and substrate,
respectively. A thermal transfer member contacts the opposite face
of the chip and is engaged to the substrate so as to compress the
interposer thereby simultaneously establishing relatively low
inductance electrical connections between the chip contacts and the
substrate contacts and good thermal contact between the chip and
the thermal transfer member. The assembly is particularly adapted
to provide power to the chip of a TAB-type integrated circuit
assembly which includes a flexible lead frame connected between the
chip and the substrate.
Inventors: |
Fox; Leslie R. (Boxborough,
MA), Wade; Paul C. (Shirley, MA), Schmidt; William L.
(Acton, MA) |
Assignee: |
Digital Equipment Corp.
(Maynard, MA)
|
Family
ID: |
23474643 |
Appl.
No.: |
07/373,960 |
Filed: |
June 29, 1989 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
257/675; 257/704;
257/774; 257/E23.063; 257/E23.067; 257/E23.084; 361/714; 361/718;
439/66; 439/68 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H01L
23/4006 (20130101); H01L 23/49827 (20130101); H01L
23/49833 (20130101); H01R 13/2414 (20130101); H01L
24/50 (20130101); H01L 24/73 (20130101); H01L
2023/4043 (20130101); H01L 2023/4062 (20130101); H05K
2201/10681 (20130101); H01R 12/714 (20130101); H01L
2924/00013 (20130101); H01L 2924/00013 (20130101); H01L
2224/29099 (20130101); H01L 2224/16225 (20130101); H01L
2924/12042 (20130101); H01L 2924/12042 (20130101); H01L
2924/00 (20130101); H01L 2924/14 (20130101); H01L
2924/14 (20130101); H01L 2924/00 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
H01L
23/34 (20060101); H01L 23/498 (20060101); H01L
23/48 (20060101); H01L 23/40 (20060101); H01R
13/22 (20060101); H01R 13/24 (20060101); H01L
023/02 (); H01L 023/48 (); H01L 023/42 (); H01L
039/02 () |
Field of
Search: |
;357/68,74,80,81,79
;361/381,389,398 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Hille; Rolf
Assistant Examiner: Ostrowski; David M.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Nutter, McClennen & Fish
Claims
We claim:
1. An IC chip assembly comprising
a chip having an array of exposed contacts at a face thereof;
a substrate having an array of exposed contacts at a face
thereof;
interposer means positioned between said chip and substrate, said
interposer means including electrically insulating compliant means
for providing compliance between said chip and said substrate, said
compliant means having first and second opposite surfaces which
face said chip and substrate respectively, first exposed contacts
at said first surface of the compliant means which engage the
contacts on the chip, and second exposed contacts at said second
surface of the compliant means which engage the contacts of the
substrate;
connecting means electrically connecting said first and second
contacts;
thermal transfer means engaging the face of said chip opposite said
first face thereof; and
compressing means for compressing said interposer means between
said substrate and said thermal transfer means, said interposer
means thereby simultaneously providing compliance between said chip
and substrate, establishing relatively low inductance electrical
connections between the array of chip contacts and the array of
substrate contacts and good thermal contact between said chip and
said thermal transfer means.
2. The chip assembly defined in claim 1 wherein the contacts of
said chip are contact bumps raised from said chip first face, and
said first contacts of the interposer means are relatively flat
pads which are engaged by said bumps.
3. The chip assembly defined in claim 2 wherein said connecting
means comprise conductors extending through said compliant means
between selected first and second contacts thereon.
4. The chip assembly defined in claim 3 wherein each first contact
is cantilevered from its said conductor and is engaged by a said
chip contact bump at a location offset along said contact from that
conductor to provide a compliant connection between said conductor
and said chip bump.
5. The chip assembly defined in claim 3 wherein each second contact
is cantilevered from its said conductor and is engaged by a
substrate contact at a location offset along said second contact
from that conductor to provide a compliant connection between said
conductor and said substrate contact.
6. The chip assembly defined in claim 3 wherein said contacts are
of gold or other relatively inert metal.
7. The chip assembly defined in claim 2 wherein said compliant
means are of Viton fluoroelastomer or silicone rubber.
8. The chip assembly defined in claim 3 wherein said conductors are
plated vias extending through said compliant means between said
first and second contacts thereon.
9. The circuit chip assembly defined in claim 1 wherein the
contacts on the chip are relatively flat pads and said first
contacts on the interposer means have bumps which engage said
pads.
10. The chip assembly defined in claim 9 wherein said conductors
comprise bundles of tiny electrically conductive strands embedded
in said compliant means and whose opposite ends are exposed at the
first and second faces of said compliant means.
11. The chip assembly defined in claim 1 wherein
said thermal transfer means comprises a heat-sink cover member
which overlies and protectively encloses said chip, said interposer
means and the contacts thereon, and
means for securing together said member and said substrate.
12. The chip assembly defined in claim 1 wherein said thermal
transfer means comprise a compliant pad and a multiplicity, of
thermally conductive strands embedded in said pad throughout
substantially its entire extent.
13. The circuit chip assembly defined in claim 12 and further
including a heat-sink cover member which overlies and protectively
encloses said chip, said interposer means and said compliant
pad.
14. The circuit chip assembly defined in claim 1
wherein the contact array on said chip is spaced from the periphery
of said chip first face; and
further including additional chip contacts exposed at said chip
first face, additional substrate contacts exposed at said substrate
face, and a flexible circuit lead frame mechanically and
electrically attached at a first end thereof to said additional
chip contacts and at a second and thereof to said additional
substrate contacts.
15. The chip assembly defined in claim 14 wherein said chip and
said lead frame form a TAB-type integrated circuit.
16. The chip assembly defined in claim 14 wherein at least one of
said pad first contacts and said pad second contacts are connected
electrically but not mechanically to the contacts with which they
are engaged.
17. The chip assembly defined in claim 14 wherein the contacts in
said array of contacts on said chip include power contacts
therefor, and
said additional chip contacts include signal contacts therefor.
18. An IC chip assembly comprising
a chip having an array of exposed contacts at the periphery of a
first face thereof and additional chip contacts exposed at said
chip first face;
a substrate having an array of exposed contacts at a face thereof
and additional substrate contacts at said substrate face;
interposer means positioned between said chip and substrate, said
interposer means including electrically insulating compliant means
for providing compliance between said chip and said substrate, said
compliant means having first and second opposite surfaces which
face said chip and substrate respectively, first exposed contacts
at said first surface of the compliant means which engage the said
additional contacts of the chip, and second exposed contacts at
said second surface of the compliant means which engage said
additional contacts of the substrate;
connecting means electrically connecting said first and second
contacts;
a flexible circuit lead frame mechanically and electrically
attached at a first electrical end thereof to said array of chip
contacts, and at a second electrical end thereof to said array of
substrate contacts; and
means for engaging said chip, interposer means and substrate
together so that said interposer means provides compliance between
said chip and said substrate and establishes relatively low
inductance electrical connections between said additional contacts
of said chip and said substrate.
19. The chip assembly defined in claim 18 wherein said chip and
said lead frame form a TAB-type integrated circuit.
20. The chip assembly defined in claim 18 wherein at least one of
said first contacts and said second contacts are connected
electrically but not mechanically to the contacts with which they
are engaged.
21. The chip assembly defined in claim 18 wherein the contacts in
said array of contacts on said chip include power contacts
therefor, and
said additional chip contacts include signal contacts therefor.
22. The chip assembly defined in claim 18 wherein said connecting
means are included in said interposer means.
23. The chip assembly defined in claim 18 wherein said compliant
means consist of a resilient dielectric pad sandwiched between said
chip and said substrate.
24. An IC chip assembly comprising
a chip having an array of exposed contacts at the periphery of a
first face thereof and additional chip contacts exposed at said
chip first face;
a substrate having an array of exposed contacts at a face thereof
and additional substrate contacts exposed at said substrate
face;
interposer means located between said chip and said substrate, said
interposer means including first compliant contacts engaging said
additional chip contacts, second compliant contacts engaging said
additional substrate contacts and conductors electrically
connecting selected ones of said first and second contacts;
a lead frame mechanically and electrically connected at a first
electrical end thereof to said array of chip contacts, and at a
second electrical end thereof to said array of substrate
contacts;
heat sink means engaging the face of said chip opposite said first
face thereof; and
means for engaging said chip, interposer means, substrate and heat
sink means together so that said interposer means simultaneously
provides compliance between said chip and said substrate and
establishes relatively low inductance electrical connections
between said additional chip and substrate contacts and good
thermal contact between said chip and said heat sink means.
Description
This invention relates to a method of packaging and powering
integrated circuit chips and to the chip assembly itself. It
relates more particularly to a method of simultaneously cooling and
providing power to an integrated circuit chip connected
electrically by a lead frame to a printed wiring board or other
interconnect substrate.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
High performance IC chips commonly referred to simply as chips,
present three concomitant problems, namely, the requirement to
connect many signals paths, the delivery of electric power to the
chip and the removal of heat from the chip. State of the art chips
may only be in the order of 14 millimeters on a side and yet
require as many as 500 or more electrical connections in order to
receive the necessary power and reference voltages to operate the
chip and to distribute the various electrical signals to and from
the chip. One common technique for making all of the necessary
connections to such a chip is to mount the chip on a flexible lead
frame. The lead frame is essentially a flexible circuit or tape
having a multiplicity of printed conductors or runs extending from
contacts spaced around the periphery of the chip to terminals
distributed around the periphery of the lead frame. With the chip
being connected thusly to the lead frame, the latter can be
connected to a printed wiring board or other interconnect substrate
by soldering the lead frame terminals to correspondingly positioned
contacts on the substrate.
A chip assembly of this type which also incorporates a heat sink to
remove heat from the chip is disclosed in pending U.S. patent
application Ser. No. 162,671, filed Mar. 1, 1988, entitled METHOD
AND APPARATUS FOR PACKAGING AND COOLING INTEGRATED CIRCUIT CHIPS,
which application is assigned to the owner of this application. The
so-called TAB or chip-on-tape assembly disclosed in that
application can remove heat from the chip and provide a large
number of leads for signals, and power and reference voltages.
However, the concentration of supply current contact points around
the chip perimeter and the associated clustered conductor runs on
the lead frame constitute relatively high inductance power
connections between the chip and the substrate. This high
inductance may sometimes adversely affect the stability of on-chip
reference supplies that are subjected to very fast transient
current disturbances. Such disturbances can arise, for example, due
to simultaneously switching drivers. Current state-of-the art CMOS
and ECL chips should be able to handle switching transients in the
order of 25 amp/ns without adverse effects on electrical
performance. But, the known chip assemblies achieve this level of
performance only with difficulty. The delivery of power to the
peripheral contacts of a TAB-type chip assembly may also result in
a relatively high IR drop of the steady-state (DC) components of
the chip and the chip can sometimes suffer electromigration failure
in the on-chip power distribution due to excessively high peak
current densities.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In accordance with the present invention, instead of providing
power to closely-spaced peripheral contacts of a chip by way of a
lead frame, some or all of these voltages are delivered to more
widely spaced-apart power contacts on the face of the chip by way
of a special compliant interposer which simultaneously urges the
chip into intimate heat-exchange contact with a thermal transfer
member or heat sink engaging the backside of the chip and
establishes power connections directly between the substrate and
the chip. This construction greatly reduces the supply path
inductance of the assembly and establishes multiple connections to
the chip which are distributed over the face of the chip resulting
in an improved and more robust distribution network for the AC and
DC power to the chip.
The invention accordingly comprises the several steps and the
relation of such steps with respect to each of the others, and the
features of construction, combination of elements and arrangement
of parts which are adapted to effect such steps, all as exemplified
in the following detailed description, and the scope of the
invention will be indicated in the claims.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
In the drawings:
FIG. 1 is an exploded isometric view of a chip assembly embodying
our invention;
FIG. 2 is a fragmentary bottom plan view on a larger scale of the
mounted chip in the FIG. 1 assembly;
FIG. 3 is a partial cross sectional view on a still larger scale of
the assembly;
FIG. 4 is a similar view on a still larger scale showing portions
of the assembly in greater detail;
FIG. 5 is a fragmentary isometric view of a portion of the FIG. 4
assembly;
FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 4 of another chip assembly
embodiment; and
FIG. 7 is a view similar to FIG. 5 showing a portion of the FIG. 6
assembly in greater detail.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
FIG. 1 of the drawings shows a chip assembly 10 including an
interconnect substrate 12 such as a printed wiring board or the
like having an array of conductors or runs 14. Assembly 10 also
includes an integrated circuit chip 16 mounted, circuit-side-down,
in an opening 18a at the center of a flexible lead frame or tape
18. Preferably, substrate 12, chip 16 and lead frame 18 embody the
tape applied bonding (TAB), also known as chip-on-tape (COT),
technique disclosed in the above-identified pending patent
application, the contents of which are incorporated by reference
herein.
Lead frame 18 is arranged to be positioned at a site 22 on
substrate 12 with the chip 16 overlying a small site 24 in the
middle of site 22. Sandwiched between chip 16 and substrate 12 at
site 24 thereon is a special compliant interposer 26 which
simultaneously establishes certain electrical connections between
chip 16 and substrate 12 and provides vertical compliance between
the chip and the substrate, as will be described in more detail
later. Overlying chip 16 and tape 18 is a thermal transfer member
in the form of a heat sink cover 28. When interposer 26 and lead
frame 18 are positioned against substrate 12 at sites 24 and 22,
respectively, cover 28 can engage substrate 12 so that it
completely covers chip 16, lead frame 18 and interposer 26.
As shown in FIG. 1, a channel 28a may be provided in the underside
of cover 28 which extends all around the edge margin of the cover.
Seated in channel 28a is a gasket which projects slightly from the
underside of cover 28. When the cover is engaged to substrate 12,
the gasket provides a fluid-tight seal all around assembly 10.
Cover 28 may be held in place against substrate 12 by appropriate
fasteners 34 which extend through corner holes 36 in cover 28 and
through registering holes 38 in substrate 12 and engage into a base
or support member 30 underlying substrate 12. When cover 28 is
seated against substrate 12, it protectively encloses all of the
internal components of the chip assembly 10. Also, the underside of
cover 28 contacts the upper face 16a (i.e., backside) of chip 16 so
that member 28 can conduct heat away from the chip. To enhance such
heat transfer, the upper face 16a of chip 16 may be coated with a
lubricant 40 such as polyphenyl ether (PPE) as described in the
aforesaid patent application.
As shown in FIG. 2, the lower face 16b (i.e., circuit side) of chip
16 may be provided with a peripheral array of contact pads 42 by
which certain internal electrical components of the chip are
connected by lead frame 18 and substrate 12 to the outside world. A
typical chip 16, which may be in the order of 14 millimeters on a
side, may have as many as 130 or more contact pads on each of the
four edge margins of the chip.
As best seen in FIGS. 1 and 2, a multiplicity of conductor runs 44
are provided on lead frame 18. Each run 44 may extend from a
contact 44a at an outer edge of the lead frame to a tab 44b which
overhangs the opening 18a in the lead frame such that each tab 44b
underlies a contact 42 on chip 16. The contacts 42 may be coated
with solder and the tabs 44b connected electrically and
mechanically to pads 42 by heating the tabs and pads momentarily,
e.g. with a thermode or laser, so as to remelt the solder. Of
course, other means may be used to mechanically and electrically
connect the contacts of the lead frame and chip such as conductive
cement, etc. Preferably, the contacts 44a at the outer edges of the
lead frame 18 are similarly connected to contact pads 14a at the
ends of the conductor runs 14 on substrate 12. As shown in FIG. 1,
these pads 14a are spaced around the periphery of the substrate
site 22.
Unlike prior chip assemblies, such as the ones described in the
above-identified patent application, not all of the connections to
chip 16 are made by way of the peripheral contacts 42. Rather, as
shown in FIG. 2, there is also an array of contacts at the center
of the chip. In the illustrated chip embodiment, the contacts are
bump-type contacts or bumps 46 arranged in a 10.times.10 square,
the bumps being spaced relatively far apart, i.e., in the order of
1 millimeter, from their neighbors. Preferably the bumps are of a
highly electrically conductive, inert metal such as gold.
As best seen in FIGS. 1, 3 and 5, the interposer 26 component of
assembly 10 comprises a compliant resilient pad or cushion 52 which
conforms generally to the size and shape of chip 16, or at least to
the area at the underside thereof encompassing the array of bumps
46. Pad 52 may be composed of an electrically insulating compliant
material having a relatively low modulus to avoid high stresses on
chip 16 when the interposer is compressed between chip 16 and
substrate 12. Silicone rubber and Viton brand fluoroelastomer have
been shown to be suitable pad materials.
An array of contacts 54 may be applied to the upper surface of pad
52 which contacts correspond to, and are arranged to register with,
the bumps 46 on chip 16. Thus, in the illustrated interposer 26,
there are 100 such contacts 54 arranged in a 10.times.10 square. A
similar array of contacts 56 may be provided on the underside of
pad 52, each contact 56 being located under a corresponding contact
46 on the upper surface of the pad. Each pair of opposing contacts
46, 56 may be connected electrically by a plated via 58. The arrays
of contacts and vias in pad 52 can be formed by drilling an array
of holes in the pad and depositing a highly conductive metal or
sequence of metals, (e.g., copper, nickel, gold) on the upper and
lower surfaces of pad 52 and on the walls of the holes using
conventional photopatterning and electroplating or metal deposition
processes. When the interposer 26 is positioned properly at the
underside of chip 16 as shown in FIG. 3, its contacts 54 and 56
underlie the contact bumps 46 of the chip.
Referring to FIGS. 4 and 5, to enhance the compliance of interposer
26, preferably the interposer contacts 54 are cantilevered as shown
and the contacts are located on pad 52 so that the free ends 54a of
those contacts are engaged by the chip bumps 46 to achieve an
offset contact with the bumps. The contact ends 54a are able to
flex to some extent relative to the vias 58, the objective being to
achieve a resilient engagement of the interposer 26 with the chip
bumps 46 which will maintain chip 16 in intimate heat exchange
contact the heat-sink cover 28, yet not be so strong or stiff as to
fatigue or otherwise damage contacts 46 and 54 or unduly stress
chip 16.
Referring to FIGS. 1, 3 and 4, the contacts 56 at the underside of
interposer 26 are arranged to contact a corresponding array of
contacts 62 at the site 24 on substrate 12. Preferably, the
contacts 56 are also cantilevered with their free ends 56a being
arranged to engage bumps 62a on contacts 62 as best seen in FIG. 4,
again to minimize stresses on chip 16. The substrate bumps 62 may
be connected electrically by plated vias 64 to various embedded
conductors 66 in substrate 12 that deliver power and/or reference
voltages to chip 16.
When assembling chip 16, lead frame 18 and interposer 26 to
substrate 12, the contacts on at least one face of the interposer
(i.e. interposer-to-chip or interposer-to-substrate) should
preferably be separable to facilitate the precision fine alignment
of the outer ends 44a of the lead frame conductors 44 to the
contact pads 14a of substrate 12. Since the latter features are in
the order of 10 times finer than the interposer contacts 54, 56,
proper alignment of the former features virtually guarantees
alignment of the separable contacts of the interposer 26 with the
chip contacts 46 or the substrate contacts 62. In the illustrated
assembly, for example, the upper interposer contacts 54 are
separable and the lower contacts 56 are connected to the substrate
contacts 62 by solder joints 63 as shown in FIG. 4.
When the heat-sink cover 28 is assembled to base 30, the resilient
interposer 26 is compressed sufficiently to maintain chip 16 in
intimate thermal contact with cover 28. The interposer also
provides compliance for vertical tolerance which may exist due to
warp and non-planarity between chip 16 and substrate 12. The
resilient interposer also assures minimum electrical contact forces
between the separable contacts 54 on interposer 26 and the opposing
contact bumps 46 on chip 16 without excessive stress on the chip 16
or risk of failure of those contacts due to metal fatigue.
Assembly 10, by virtue of its distributed contact bumps 46 on chip
16 and its special compliant interposer 26, provides very low
inductance connections of power from substrate 12 to chip 16.
Preferably, the connection of each supply voltage or reference
voltage to chip 16 will be provided by multiple redundant contacts
to insure against the possibility of any single point failure of
the power distribution. Usually, most, if not all, of the power
connections to chip 16 will be provided by way of interposer 26,
with the signal connections to the chip being provided by lead
frame 18. However, it is also contemplated that some power
connections may be provided through an appropriate number and
disposition of the lead frame conductors 44, the particulars being
dictated by specific design and application requirements.
The chip assembly 10 is completely compatible with the packaging
technique disclosed in the above cited pending application thereby
preserving the cost, flexibility and manufacturing advantages of
the TAB technology disclosed in that application, while providing
improved power distribution similar to fully bumped chip
interconnections currently in use. The low inductance power
connections to the chip minimize disturbance of on-chip references
due to rapid current transients arising from the action of many
simultaneously switching drivers. Reference voltage connection
through the interposer 26 also improves on-chip reference stability
while preserving the thermal and mechanical advantages of TAB or
chip-on-tape assemblies.
FIGS. 6 and 7 illustrate another interposer embodiment shown
generally at 72 which is suitable for a chip having flat power
contacts at the underside of the chip. Interposer 72 comprises a
compliant pad or cushion 74 having an array of wire bundles 76
extending between its upper and lower surfaces which renders pad 74
electrically anisotropic. The interposer 72 is arranged to be
sandwiched between a substrate 78 and a chip 82 in the same way
described above to electrically connect contacts 84 on the upper
surface of substrate 78 to flat contacts 86 at the underside of
chip 82. The contacts 84 and 86 should be relatively large in
comparison to the cross sections on bundles 76 to provide large
contact targets for the wire bundles 76. Preferably, the wires 76a
of each bundle 76 provide a multiplicity of redundant wire contacts
with the corresponding pads 84 and 86 at opposite ends of that
bundle.
Instead of providing a separate heat-sink cover over each chip and
lead frame, as shown in FIG. 1, a thermal transfer member in the
form of a compliant thermally-conductive pad 92 may be positioned
on each chip as shown in FIG. 7. The illustrated pad 92 is composed
of an elastomeric material having a multiplicity of fine thermally
conductive strands or wires 94 embedded in the material, making pad
92 thermally conductive throughout its extent. Positioned on pad 92
is a heat-sink cover 96, a lubricant similar to lubricant 40
preferably being provided on the opposite faces of pad 94 to assure
efficient heat transfer from chip 82 to heat-sink cover 96. This
construction is advantageous when a multiplicity of chip assemblies
are mounted to a single substrate 7. Each assembly may have a pad
94 to provide additional vertical compliance for that assembly and
to conduct heat away from the chip in that assembly to a single
heat-sink cover 96 which would protectively enclose all of the
assemblies on the substrate. Alternatively, a single thermal
transfer pad may overlie all of the chips on the substrate with a
single heat-sink cover engaging over the pad to form a
sandwich.
Although certain preferred embodiments of the invention have been
illustrated specifically, it will be understood that certain
changes may be made in the above constructions without departing
from the scope of the invention. For example, other means, such as
conductive particles embedded in the interposer, may be used to
connect the contacts on opposite surfaces of the interposer. Also,
in some applications, the compliant interposer feature may be
provided by a suitable array of contacts with underlying compliant
pads integral to the substrate. Therefore, it is intended that all
matter contained in the above description or shown in the
accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not
in a limiting sense.
It is also understood that the following claims are intended to
cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention
herein described.
* * * * *